As snow descends on Bay and Saginaw counties, school districts will keep a close eye on weather conditions to see if Friday, Feb. 8, will be a snow day or not.

An online calculator gives an unofficial prediction for what students and staff can expect. The website, snowdaycalculator.com, predicts a 99 percent chance of a snow day Friday for schools in Bay City's 48708 area code, for example.

A federal judge has dismissed a pair of lawsuits filed by two former police officers against Bay City. The formerly married pair claimed their age or gender were factors in their termination.

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington on Jan. 11 dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit of Jennifer K. Blood. The judge did the same thing on Jan. 29 with the lawsuit of her former husband, William J. Blood. Dismissing with prejudice, as opposed to without prejudice, means the case is closed and cannot be brought again.

Bay City towing and snow removal businesses are waiting in anticipation as the winter storm warning for the area has yet to produce much accumulated snowfall.

“We were expecting it to come a little earlier,” said Rob Kreager, general manager of Saginaw’s Kreager Towing. “I was looking at the radar and thought this thing was going to hit sooner but it seems to keep skirting us.”

A winter storm rolling through the Great Lakes Bay Region on Thursday, Feb. 7, could bring up to 11 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

"An upper level disturbance from the northern Rockies will combine forces with energy from Texas to strengthen a storm system over the central Great Lakes Thursday and Thursday night. This system has the potential to generate heavy snowfall, particularly north of M-46 where total snowfall accumulations of 7 to 11 inches will be possible," the NWS said in a forecast on Feb. 6.

A defense attorney representing a former Saginaw Township Catholic school athletic director, who is charged with sexually assaulting a distant relative, says the allegations against his client are unfounded.